Police rescue 25 minor girls from Bihar fair

Patna, Feb 14: Police rescued 25 minor girls who were forced to dance naked at a theatre in a rural fair near the Indo-Nepal border in Bihar’s Araria district and arrested 44 people under human trafficking charges during a raid, police Monday said.

Araria Superintendent of Police Shivdeep Lande said that minor girls were forced to dance naked, not only for entertainment but to “attract good buyers” from outside the state.

“Police have been investigating it by interrogating rescued the minor girls and arrested people,” Lande said.

All the rescued minor girls have been handed over to the district children’s welfare committee for rehabilitation.

According to him, the rescued girls are from neighbouring areas and from Nepal.

Lande told IANS over telephone that all the girls are minors and arrested people are from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Nepal and other parts of Bihar. “It appears to be a part of a big human trafficking racket.”

Some locals alleged that the minor girls, mostly from poor of the poorest families were forced into flesh trade.

Lande admitted that human trafficking racket was going on in various pockets along the Indo-Nepal border, particularly in Araria, about 350 km from here.

The state government has repeatedly claimed that it has initiated measaures to check human trafficking.